The increase in housing allowance will be smaller • Tiberg: “Clear deterioration of the economy”
The government lowers the tax for both employees and pensioners – at the same time it lowers the housing allowance.
Now the opposition is collapsing.
– I don’t understand what societal problems are solved with large tax cuts for high income earners at the same time that families with children will have their housing allowance reduced, says Janine Alm Ericson, the Green Party’s economic policy spokesperson.
During Thursday, the government and the Sweden Democrats presented reforms in the upcoming budget, which include tax cuts for employees and on savings in ISK accounts.
But it is the families with children who stand as losers, according to TV4’s political commentator Ann Tiberg.
“Nothing the government signs with”
Despite the fact that the tax is reduced in several places, the additional allowance in the housing allowance is also reduced. According to the government, the additional allowance is extended “during the first six months of 2025 at a level of 25 percent of the preliminary housing allowance”.
Previously, it was 40 percent.
– It is extended, but not at the same level as before. In practice, it’s a reduction, but it’s nothing that the government directly advertises, says TV4’s political reporter Ann Tiberg.
The temporary housing allowance is reduced from a maximum of SEK 2,100 to a maximum of SEK 1,325, according to Tiberg.
– You really need to read the texts to understand that this is in fact a reduction, she continues.
People with particularly weak finances
The additional allowance in the housing allowance is an extra allowance that goes to people with particularly weak finances such as families with children.
– If you have small margins, this is about a clear deterioration of the economy. The government justifies this by saying that it is still an extension and that they are at the same level as previous governments have put it at, says Ann Tiberg.
“The government is misleading”
Janine Alm Ericson, the Green Party’s economic policy spokesperson, is furious at the news.
“I don’t understand what social problems are solved with large tax cuts for high income earners at the same time that families with children will receive reduced housing allowance. The government is misleading when it claims to prioritize low-income earners,” she writes in a message to TV4.
“If you look at the numbers, you see that it is not true. It is incomprehensible to make this priority when welfare is on its knees and households with small margins really need support,” she continues.